Last week's hard-hitting series ender concluded with the AC-12 investigator being jailed for covering up the manslaughter of forensics expert Tim Ifield – seemingly bringing an end to Thandie Newton's time on the BBC show.

However, Line of Duty showrunner Jed Mercurio has hinted to TV Times that viewers might not have actually seen the very last of crooked copper Roz.

"It was reasonably conclusive that Roz had accepted her guilt and she was serving her sentence, but we never close the door on any living character," Mercurio hinted. "There are always ways in which we'd bring someone back for the right story."